How much down time would you say you typically get each week? When you’re a busy working mom, it can seem like a constant struggle trying to juggle everything. After a hard working day, you find yourself having to switch off from work to take care of your lovable-but-demanding family. This can leave very little time for you. While this may seem like a normal part of parenthood, simply sucking it up and forcing yourself to push through the stress isn’t always the best solution. Down time is essential, not only for your sanity, but for your health too.
What happens if you don’t get enough downtime?
A survey was actually conducted by the Working Moms Break website which showed that a massive 88% of working parents suffer with stress related problems. Stress is seen as a standard part of being a parent. However, it’s easy to overlook just how seriously stress can affect your health. The trouble is, once stress kicks in, everything becomes a lot more difficult to deal with. It doesn’t just affect your mental and physical health, it also has an impact on your relationships, work life and everything in-between. In particular, your relationship with your children will suffer.
Downtime can be found no matter what age your children are
Whether you’ve just recently had a baby or whether your child is a young adolescent, there are ways you can get down time during each life stage. ParentFurther has excellent tips on the best ways to get down time throughout each different life stage. For example, if your child is 0-5 years old, you can take advantage of nap times, or let someone you trust take over for a while. On the other hand if they are aged 10-15, you could benefit from ‘sleepovers’. Kids this age tend to like staying over at their friends. Let them. After all, it gives you chance to catch up on some much needed ‘me’ time.
What to do with your downtime?
Now getting down time is one thing, but figuring out what to do with it is another. For many working moms, time alone from the children gives them chance to catch up on housework or check in with work. Don’t do this! Down time needs to be a chance for you to completely switch off. It’s a chance to relax, enjoy yourself and recharge your batteries. So what can you do? Anything! Read a book, play a game, watch your favorite TV show or enjoy a glass of wine while playing online games. There is so much you could be doing, you just forget how to spend time by yourself when you have spent so long focusing on the kids and work life.
Overall, down time isn’t selfish. If anything, it is essential for both you and your children as it will help you to handle situations much better. When you’re stressed there’s a good chance you will take things out on the children. So, take the time to step back when you can and you will soon start to see all areas of your life improving.
This is so inspiring and true! Working mom’s have it hard and battle so much throughout the day, thank you for sharing this.
I’m going to pin this to my Pinterest board to show my other busy mom friends!
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